Yep. Weird that it was intake only.. posted on the 216 Owners Forum and will see what is revealed as I disassemble....
Had the same problem when we brought our '47 216 back to life. Bent two pushrods, backfired and then we realized two valves were frozen. We wound up doing a total valve job and had new valve seats installed when the head was off. Did you use a hammer to pop the tops of the valves to make sure they were all loose? (we didn't and a few people told me it was important to do before running the motor for a prolonged period). Even after you got it running for the first time, its possible some old varnish got heated up and caused the valves to stick. Its common with the 216 and 235 after they've been sitting a few years. That would definitely bend those pushrods and cause a backfire. You can usually bend those back into shape, or NAPA sells new ones very cheap and most still stock them if you have an older NAPA store around. Good luck and let us know what you find!
Looks like you're having a lot of fun. Goodluck with it and it's better to have something to drive with the family.
Make sure that the house brand oil has enough zinc content, so you don't lose a camshaft. Need to check that out. Just say'n.
scrubby 2009 I love the way you write , easy and fun to read !! usually when I see a post with that much text ill skip to the pictures. but,,i assume you write just like you talk, and youn have a gift for gab !! oh,,great job on the car,, I love it !!
What a great find, like a hermetically sealed time capsule. Thanks for sharing the fun details and rebuild process with us. You really can write, this has been the most enjoyable and interesting build I've seen lately on the HAMB. Subscribing.
Monkeyspunk79- Dude! Those pushrods look just like mine. And I keep hearing about zinc.. I will do as suggested. After the pushrods were found, I tried tapping a rocker but not too hard, as it is cast. Felt no bounce. So I am thinking that rebuilding the head is in order.. at least disassembling it and hand-lapping the valves, checking for "play" in the guides. Haven't done that since I rehabbed my old Unibody Ford's Y-block in '96. Zerk.. Thanks for the kind words, my college Eng-rish professor agrees... Your careless use of the word "hermetically" gave me a giggle. Here in sunny NorCal it is a pole barn. Thus the woodrat damage to the trunk. Just so odd that the seats and door panels and glovebox were untouched, but the headliner and tail light wires were eaten. Grateful tho. For all the rust it has, I'd be less interested if the wiring harness and dash and stuff like a generator that still "gens" and locked glovebox lights that come on when you open them, dome lights that come on when you fiddle the ground wire... Got to respect the BigGirl's will to live, right? No update, 9 hours shoveling in the sun wiped me out yesterday and it was nice to just take the kids and the old lady and pile in the (gulp) Honda with AC and go out for some Texas barbeque. Nice thing was, the boss (name on the door of the trucks and everything!) realized his f@*%-up and got out there with me for awhile, swinging a digging bar and shovel with me. Now there's a company commander I'd follow into small arms fire.
Scrubby, if you're cool doing a little valve lapping and cleanup you should be back in business. That old Stovebolt will rise again soon, I'm certain of it!
Quick update - Hot as Heck here, not much energy but in the last couple days I have continued to clean and slowly disassemble BigGirl. Guess the name stuck for now. The Princess insisted we name the car... digression. Hard to describe how much therapy there is on the cool concrete on a hot afternoon. My garage is full of smells and sights that reassure my very soul. When I go to the drawers for tools, I often look for the oldest wrench because it just seems right. I've got a dozen or more 9/16 open/box, and I know where most of them came from and how long I've had custody. So I've been soaking up the old grease and slowly working my way into removing the head so we can disassemble and inspect. All the cork gaskets are pretty dried up, but the paper ones around the thermostat housing and waterpump came away very clean with little tearing and behind the water pump was a lot of bright freshmilled iron on the front of the head. Hoses came off (with a little care) with no tearing.. That old radiator gets me a little excited. Not sure why... Anyway, pictures and more later. Monkeyspunk79, haven't yet checked with my local NAPA about pushrods... kind of expecting they might have them. They had everything I needed for the brakes in stock, and most of the small 6-volt bulbs I asked about.
How often have we broken/stripped/cursed/pleaded for these to come out? One shot of penetrating oil and I waited maybe half an hour.. pulled some other stuff off.. came back and laid a wrench to it and 'pop', off it came. Taking a lunch, ready to pull the head. BTW, brass nuts on old exhaust studs=easy removal. Just saying...
Got the head off yesterday and cleaned and re-installed the intake valves. Exhaust look great. Kind of heavy white deposit built up on the faces on exhaust side. Intake was a gooey black mess, ports all full of varnish and stems badly stuck. Got out the trusty valve spring tool (can't honestly remember where that came from.. yardsale maybe?) and in about an hour had everything right. Intake valves were fresh cut, seats were good, and guides are tight. No sludge-like deposits anywhere. Recently rebuilt as Floyd said. Gaskets were in good shape and the piston tops and cylinders are gorgeous. All the pistons are numbered and stamped with "J". So now I will clean everything up and wait for a little cash to buy some gaskets with and put it all back together. Pictures...
Your car is one step closer to driving everyday. Onc eyou get all the bugs worked out these old chevys seem to never quit!
What, no broken parts? No hard-luck stories? Just kidding, its looking real good, Scrubby. Boy you lucked out with that temp sensor! Looks like it will go back together quickly and painlessly.
Dang! Been 2 weeks and I am just plugging away since the last update. Local NAPA got me a headset for $65 and I have been getting an hour or two in the evenings. Football started for my 9 year old and so that takes time, as it should. Too much fun watchin' youngsters learn the game! Slowly getting motor back together. Rocker assembly cleaned and put on last night and right rear floor is patched and seamsealed. Left rear remains to be done and finish putting the motor back. Then it is back to finding all the little gremlins in the heater/defroster, the wipers, the turnsignals... Pictures, or it didn't happen, right? Been having fun remembering while I clean parts, all the cars I've driven (as opposed to bought for parts..) that had a 4-mainbearing 6cylinder 1987- '61 BelAir hardtop 1988- '61 Biscayne 2dr sedan 1991- 1946 GMC 1/2 ton 1992- 1954 GMC 1/2 ton 1992- 1954 Chevy 3/4 ton 2013- 1951 Fleetline 4dr.
Floor looks good and the engine bay looks all too familiar. Those old 6 bangers are music to the ears, and once you've had one you seem to keep finding others than need a home. Keep up the great work, my friend. It won't be long before this motor is singing its song again.
Thanks Daryl! Yeah, can't wait to hear those lifters tickin'. Another sound I remember so fondly is that "thump" when ya dump the clutch or release the brake real quick, that sound brings back so many good memories. Love that musty old rusty smell that these old rigs have. chevy54man, you will hear for sure about the awesomeness of BigGirl as a daily driver. I am a little nervous, but thankfully my commute is only 15 miles each way and we live in a pretty mellow little town. Drum brakes and dim lights will be just fine here in the boonies.
A whole month has gone by. Lots of "life" has happened and progress has been slow. Back to school full time for me, football for my 9 year old and getting my now-16 year old daughter ready to take her behind-the-wheel test for her drivers license.... Somehow I got the Fleetline reassembled and the keys made, and just in time for our local car show, I threw some blankets and old sleeping bags over bare springs and a chunk of rubber floormat over the last section of rusted-out floor and we went to the 14th annual Cruisin in the Pines here in Grass Valley CA. Lots of good conversations, even a rusted out hulk gets people's attention and we had so much fun. Got it on the freeway tonight for a couple miles, 60 mph is about the limit of 6-volt low beams! Old bias plies on the ass end make lane changes kinda fun. Brakes are awesome tho, and other than a couple hot start issues (needs brushes maybe?) we had a trouble free weekend. Now we need to focus on glass and heater/defroster rehabilitation, and wiper overhaul. Couple shots for you all and thanks for the encouraging words and timely advice over the last couple months!
I promise there will be more pictures soon. But today was a mixture of progress and a minor setback. Good news? With some careful "storytelling", DMV charged me 77 dollars and said if I can get the CHP to make sense of the VIN number, then I can have new plates and a years worth of motoring upon our wonderful network of potholes and bridge retrofitting projects that we call the public roadways here in California. Bad news is those sweet old black and yellow plates are going to take more money and "hoop jumping" to display them legally. In other news, my 16 year old kicked ass on her driving test today and scored herself a Drivers License, all behind the wheel (and THREE pedals) of her mom's Civic Si. Very nice Sweetheart! Test administrator said she had never done a test drive with a girl driving a stick before and admitted she was pretty impressed. Big thanks again for the inspiration and knowledge I gain here.
Bogged down right now with CHP VIN verification. Female officer, kinda hot and very pleasant, is telling me there is a "secret squirrel, just for law enforcement" second VIN location that requires the car to be up on a lift and some parts removed. Any ideas? I didn't think there was a frame number on these older GM products. All because I have no old papers or registration cards or titles or ANYTHING in the way of documents and they have no record on any of their computers. Jumping thru hoops....
IIRC there is an extra serial number stamping off one side of the trans crosmember. If you have to unbolt something, is it possibly behind the master cylinder or bracket?
Keep up the good work! I love this car just because it is a four door and is still getting another lease on life. Videos would be cool too, maybe an inside outside tour of the car and a few clips of it running and driving up and down the road
Had the MC out to rebuild it and cut most of the floor pan out on both sides in the front.. didn't see any numbers but I wasn't looking, wasn't scraping and wire-brushing the frame. Any info you might develop or remember would be SO appreciated! CHP chick is being cool so far, and if I find the number for her it would definitely engender some goodwill! I will ask over in the babbit-pounder forum too... CHSTITANS42- have had no luck so far with videos, but I hear ya! Got to say, it is better than almost anything, hearing that muffled "th-whump" when I step off the brake and release the clutch pedal. I like that squirm you have to do with the throttle, ya know, lateral movements to make that old rod go down thru the floorboard smoothly. I love the organic natural relationship you get to have with un-boosted drum brakes and bias ply tires when you slow down and come to a stop. There is actual mechanical feedback from the road all the way up thru the pedal, past my hip, right to my heart. Alright, now it's gettin sappy! Makes me wish C9 was still around, that guy could make me smell and hear and taste when he wrote.
I'll ask those that know more, locally. Amen on C9's story telling ability. Sure miss seeing him post here.
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